Yearly Cost: More or less than you expected?

[Trogdor]

I am doing some cost analysis since I primarily fly for a club, ~110-120 hrs/year. All in, I'm thinking about 25-30k a year to operate (wet rate * hours + annual + misc). Is that what you folks see? The other issue I have is ZERO chance of a hangar which has always put a pause on my ownership aspirations and not just how to reflect that in my operating costs (I padded the annual, 5-7k).

[hammdo]

Right now, owning with hanger, annual, updates/upgrades/fixes/maintenance, subscriptions, insurance, fuel I’m averaging 20k-22k for my C over the last 4 years. First 2 years higher as I added G5s, fixes for avionics, gnc 355. I do my own oil changes and things I’m allowed to fix.

I do about 100 hrs a year, highest was 144 hours in a year. Some years higher, some lower, it depends on what you do. I try to stay on top of things through-out the year to avoid big annuals. 

-Don

[Ragsf15e]

4 minutes ago, hammdo said:

Right now, owning with hanger, annual, updates/upgrades/fixes/maintenance, subscriptions, insurance, fuel I’m averaging 20k-22k for my C over the last 4 years. First 2 years higher as I added G5s, fixes for avionics, gnc 355. I do my own oil changes and things I’m allowed to fix.

I do about 100 hrs a year, highest was 144 hours in a year. Some years higher, some lower, it depends on what you do. I try to stay on top of things through-out the year to avoid big annuals. 

-Don

This seems to match me too.  I have an inexpensive hangar, but ~20k/year all in is in the hundred hours ballpark.

[hubcap]

I fly 100 - 150 hours a year. My "all in" expenses will be covered by $25,000/year. Myrtle is a 231.

[MatthiasArnold]

Roughly double the numbers for European Mooney drivers (ok - maybe only +80%)..

[McMooney]

My 1974 E 

hangar + annual + insurance + subscriptions  ~=   $12000

actual maintenance ~= 0 to $5k, she hasn't been horrible for maintenance

don't include upgrades as i never know what i'll do and they are really optional, this year i'm about $15k in and will be adding another radio so $20k for this year but usually it's been about $5000ish.

next couple years extended range tanks and paint so +$$$$$$$

good thing, after she gets some paint, excluding normal maintenance, she should be good to go for a very long time

 

really surprises me, flying is the cheap part.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rick Junkin]

I sent you a PM with my expense spreadsheet. My all-in budget, including hourly reserve for engine overhaul and hangar/aircraft financing, is $48K/year. Take away finance payments and engine reserve and I'm at $25K/year like everyone else. 150 hours/year.

[MikeOH]

After nearly 7 years, 75 hours/year, I've averaged $18K, all in.  I mean EVERYTHING; I'm the idiot that tracks the cost of shop rags if they're for the airplane!  No finance charge as I bought the plane with cash.  It is hangared ($350/mo, but that's HIGHLY variable depending on location)

As McMooney says, actual flying is the cheap part!  Never even think about the cost when I want to take a flight.  The fuel is around 1/4 of the total budget.

[AndreiC]

I have had a Piper Cherokee for about 15 years, and I figured that plane cost me about $7-8000/year, flying about 50 hours per year. It was tied down outside, and I did not do any major improvements to it over the years (i.e., avionics stayed the same, only installed a cheap autopilot; no paint, no engine o/h, etc.). With the Mooney M20E that I got a year and a half ago I figure the number will be roughly double ($15k/year), flying a bit more, closer to 80-100 hours/year. But I am lucky and I only pay $250/month for hangar, have no finance costs, and I do not figure engine reserve in this price. 

Regarding the above wisdom, I will echo the words of Rich Morey, third generation professional pilot: "gas and oil are the two cheapest things you can put in your airplane." (He is not a fan of LOP, by the way.)

[AndreiC]

BTW, before buying the Cherokee I was in a club that had a 172, a Cherokee, and an Arrow. I figured the break-even point was about 70 hours of flying per year. But this was many many years ago, and with a simple airplane that needed much less maintenance than a Mooney. 

[Mooneymite]

Location, location, location.

The cost of ownership is very location dependent, but I'm guessing there is no more cost effective location than a fly-in community where you own your own hangar and maintenance can be done, "locally" by friends and neighbors.  I think such a comparason would be very interesting.

 

[Trogdor]

36 minutes ago, AndreiC said:

BTW, before buying the Cherokee I was in a club that had a 172, a Cherokee, and an Arrow. I figured the break-even point was about 70 hours of flying per year. But this was many many years ago, and with a simple airplane that needed much less maintenance than a Mooney. 

This is almost the situation I’m in. I fly around 100-120 hours a year for a club. I’m trying to figure out if the added cost of ownership out weighs the drawbacks.

[Hank]

Hmmm . . . I usually avoid adding these things up!

• Hangar--$200 x 12 = 2.4 AMU
• Insurance--2 AMU
• Fuel at home--$5.60/gal
• Typical burn--9gph
• Fuel cost--$5.60 x 9 = $50/hour
• 75 hours--3.8 AMU
• 100 hours--5 AMU
• Annual--2 AMU
• Garmin subs--1/2 AMU
• Pitot static checks < 1/2 AMU per year

Annual expenses before cranking engine ~ 7 AMU.

All in for 100 hours ~ 11 AMU per year. I change my own oil, buy filters and use 7 quarts each time (a case per 50 hours, filling to 6 quarts).

[201Mooniac]

I do my best to never know how much it costs me to fly and I try even harder to make sure my wife doesn't know either :-). My guess is I'm at the very high side as I have an extremely expensive hangar (it's the SF bay area after all) and I do too many updates, upgrade, etc. but I'm a gadget geek and an avid early adopter.

[natdm]

It's so so much more than I expected. I'm still paying $$$ for things that the pre-purchase shop never checked. I'm hoping it mellows out soon. People say the first 3 years are more expensive and it's true. I did also have an incident, which hurt financially but will be great for the long-run.

Right now I put a percentage of my check in an account for aviation. As long as that's above a certain number, I'm good. If it gets to a higher number, I get some new toys in the plane. If it gets too low, I throttle back flying a bit. 

I refuse to make it more complicated than that. 

[tony]

Buying an airplane is an emotional decision.  It will never make economic sense.  

[Will.iam]

35 minutes ago, Mooneymite said:

Location, location, location.

The cost of ownership is very location dependent, but I'm guessing there is no more cost effective location than a fly-in community where you own your own hangar and maintenance can be done, "locally" by friends and neighbors.  I think such a comparason would be very interesting.

 

I live in a fly-in community and when my dad had a plane it was great as neighbor A&P and AI would sign off his annual usually over a case of beer. Unfortunately the litigation culture we currently live in nobody signs off neighbors airplanes anymore as the risk is too great to get sued. This has forced some to sell others to go get their A&P license. They will come over and give advise even help but they will not sign off with their signature in the logbook. Luckly there is still a guy that does annuals at a different airpark that is good but not convenient if the issue i need to fix grounds the plane. Hangers on your property at least in texas is pretty expensive in the form of property tax especially if they are attached compared to separate. Best deal is to have a hanger on the HOA’s community property the taxes are only $350/year. The HOA is $125/month so i treat that like my hanger rent fee.  

[AndreiC]

I'll post an expense report like @Hank did, for an E-model:

-- hangar $250/month = 3 AMU

-- Insurance 2 AMU

-- Fuel (100 hrs x 10 gph *$6/gal) = 6 AMU

-- Annual 2.5 AMU

-- Various things that come up and/or minor improvements (I had to put in a new batter; I installed the LHS last year, etc.) 2 AMU

-- Foreflight + Garmin = 0.5 AMU

Total: ~ 16 AMU.

[M20F]

I save a lot of money each year with this one little trick.  

[Danb]

1 hour ago, 201Mooniac said:

I do my best to never know how much it costs me to fly and I try even harder to make sure my wife doesn't know either :-). My guess is I'm at the very high side as I have an extremely expensive hangar (it's the SF bay area after all) and I do too many updates, upgrade, etc. but I'm a gadget geek and an avid early adopter.

Great move, I don’t want/ need to know.. it’s just a lot… if I didn’t spend it on flying it’d be on something else..

[N204TA]

15 minutes ago, Danb said:

Great move, I don’t want/ need to know.. it’s just a lot… if I didn’t spend it on flying it’d be on something else..

My mom used to say that she didn’t have to worry about me doing drugs because I was spending all of my money on flying